Getting Your Budget Approved

28 Mar 2016

Want to get your Change Management budget approved? Here’s how…

So, you’ve decided that you’d like to increase the likelihood of success for your project by adding a change management aspect to it. Now comes the fun stuff – having to convince the higher-ups to invest the extra dollars in the project to accommodate change management. That can be a mountain to climb in itself, so to help ease the journey, here are 4 things you can do to build your case and get the budget you need...

Four Steps for Getting Funding

1. Credibility is a matter of perception

Be sure you have facts/ stats that are as recent as possible and from sources that are credible to your boss. If he/she isn't a fan of academia, don't quote the Harvard Business Review. If they are "nationalistic" find stats from your country versus worldwide studies.

2. Be brief and be gone!

Execs are juggling way too many balls and have little time to waste. Consider a 20 minute meeting versus an hour long extravaganza. Keep your presentation concise and get to the point quickly. Five slides maximum! Remember they live and die by the phrase "what's the bottom line".

3. Don't take my word for it

Enlist others to help tell the story as well. Connect your boss with people at the same level (or higher) in other divisions or companies that have lived through it. It’s amazing how much more a voice from outside is heard than one from within.

4. Speak Their Language not Yours

Remember this is a financial discussion. So know the metrics that are being measured. Some common ones are:

Remember this is a business decision. Maintain this perspective. Be balanced in presenting both sides of the equation (cost/ risk as well as benefits). In fact be conservative in stating benefits and liberal in stating costs. That sets up the under promise and over deliver cliché that everyone strives for.